Red said nothing, following the guards alongside the merchant. An hour had gone by while they were being interrogated, during which the line to enter the city hadn’t diminished at all. Even late into the night, it seemed there was a constant stream of refugees seeking shelter in the capital.

The guards led them through the gate, and Red was finally able to get his first glimpses of the inner city. At least, as much as he could.

‘This is… Too cramped.’

The youth didn’t know what was waiting for him, but looking at how big the city was from the outside, he expected expansive streets and large, towering buildings. Instead, the first thing he saw was a rather narrow street leading further into the innards of the city with nestled and shoddily built homes and structures that reached over ten meters high at their peak. It was a chaotic mess of doors, windows, and balconies, with plenty of lights and conversation coming from within these houses.

Even this late at night, the city was still awake.

This activity wasn’t limited to the homes either, as plenty of people stood around by the sides of the street, talking to each other, smoking their pipes, eating, and even hanging their laundry on clotheslines that extended high above from one side of the street to the other, even using the streetlights for support. It was so cramped that a lot of guards needed to direct traffic coming in, clearing a way for carts and horses to pass through.

Red counted at least a thousand people with his crimson sense in this small section of the city near the gate. When he extrapolated these numbers with how big the capital seemed from the outside, the estimated population he had reached made him be taken aback.

For a moment, Red stood still, taking all of this chaotic environment in. Even someone as strangely dressed as him, no one spared more than a second glance. It seemed he was overly worried about how to blend in.

“It’s a lot to take in, right?”

The voice of the merchant reached him from behind. Emer had mounted his horse again, and was looking at Red with a smile.

“Carlhanne is even bigger than it seems from the outside.” The old man pointed at the streets beyond. “Near the palace, things are less cramped, though. That’s where the beauty of the city shines.”

The youth remained silent, looking between the man and the winding street ahead of him.

“Get a move on! Stop just standing there and clogging up the street!”

A guard shouted at them, causing Emer to jump in fright. He looked over at Red in a hurry.

“L-Look, I know the deal between us was just getting you into the city, but…” The old man hesitated. “I was wondering if you would like to stay at my manor for the night.”

“… Why?”

“Y-You don’t have a place to stay, do you? The inns are probably all full for the night too, so you could stay in our guest room.”

Red was rather hesitant to take the man up on his offer. It was clear that Emer was hoping to establish some goodwill with the youth through this, and considering all that happened, he wasn’t sure this was a good idea. Yet, upon further thought, this was the only connection he had in the capital, and Red wasn’t too willing to sleep in the streets in this foreign environment either.

“I will take you up on your offer.” He nodded. “But only for the night.”

“Yes, that is good too!”

The merchant seemed both happy and relieved to hear Red’s reply.

“Move on already before I bring you lot to jail for the night!”

Another warning came from the guards.

“Yes, yes, we are going!” The merchant looked back at Red. “Follow me, I’ll take you to my manor.”

Emer led the way through the street with Red in tow. They had no option but to follow the traffic, though, as there was no way they could cut around it to arrive at their destination any faster.

The youth wasn’t too worried about it, though, as this gave him the opportunity to observe his surroundings.

His initial impression of the capital wasn’t mistaken, as even further along his trip, this tumultuous environment prevailed. Yet, beneath the chaotic architecture, there were a lot of details that were easy to miss at first glance.

For instance, there were dozens of alleys of varying sizes along the streets, leading towards homes and other structures that were hidden from the prying eyes of the common public. Even above their heads, there were plenty of skybridges connecting buildings on both sides of the streets, with plenty of movement to and fro. The citizens of the town seemed to be using every single inch of space around them to build upon and make their lives easier, creating a veritable maze of paths that one could only wonder where they led to.

‘It’s no wonder that an underground organization could flourish in this place.’

Under such a complex architecture, keeping themselves hidden from the authority wouldn’t be that hard if they knew the ins and outs of the city. Red felt somewhat relieved upon realizing this, as even if he wasn’t able to keep himself entirely to the shadows, at least he would be able to blend into the crowd and into the many buildings.

As they walked further along, the traffic dispersed as the streets split off into multiple paths, leading people to their destinations all along the city. Red passed by quite a few open shops, including no small amount of inns, which all were still active even this late at night. He took a mental note of them, though he didn’t have the chance to examine them too much.

‘This place is too big.’

Even with his strong mental faculties, Red was already finding it hard to keep track of every street and corner he came across. At the very least, he realized this wasn’t a task that he wouldn’t accomplish in a single night, so he stopped worrying too much about it, instead choosing to appreciate his environments.

The merchant was more than happy to explain what every and which building of note they came across was, though according to him, the better stuff could only be found further in the city.

“You’ll see. I’ll take you there tomorrow to visit some of the best cultivation shops in the city!”

Emer seemed to be already making plans without Red’s input, but the youth didn’t say anything. Even with all his curiosity and wonder, he didn’t lower his guard regarding the merchant and all the oddities going around him.

‘He hasn’t mentioned the dead mercenaries.’

Red didn’t know if this was because the old man simply didn’t know about them, or because he was avoiding the topic. In any case, this was yet another strange matter he took note of.

“You live with someone else?” Red asked.

“Yes… Well, just two people.” The merchant nodded. “My maid, Agatha, and my younger brother, Cassemir.”

“Is your brother a merchant too?”

“Well… Yes, I guess you could say that.”

The old man’s fluctuation immediately flared in anxiety. Red frowned, but he didn’t push the topic. At this point, he would be a fool to believe everything the merchant said, so there was no point in pressing him on this matter just yet.

If anything seemed out of the ordinary when he reached this manor, then he could consider what to do.

To Red’s surprise, as their path winded through the busy city night, the streets started to widen, and the chaotic architecture instead became more organized. Larger, single and more beautiful buildings now took his view, showing the shift from a poorer area of the capital to a richer neighborhood. Activity around these parts also diminished, as there were far fewer open shops or people loitering about the sidewalks.

“There, it’s up ahead!”

The merchant pointed to an extensive building near the end of the street, with a large, adorned wooden gate, a finely painted green facade and two floors overall. It was hard to call this home a manor, as it didn’t seem much bigger than the main hall back in Red’s sect, yet for such a cramped city, such a house was already a privilege, it seemed.

The youth could see lights coming from inside the merchant’s home, though they were still too far for his crimson sense to pick anything up.

Emer dismounted his horse, looking over at Red with eagerness. “Come! My brother might still be awake, so I can introduce the two of you!”

The merchant walked ahead, leaving the youth rather confused.

‘His brother…’

Red had a bad feeling about the overall situation, but he was too far along to back out now. Once he was within range, he felt the two fluctuations inside the manor. One of them belonged to a mortal human woman, on the older side, it seemed, but the other made the youth pause.

‘Lesser Ring Realm cultivator.’

His steps faltered. If that was all, it wouldn’t have been enough to cause him such a reaction. Instead, it was something else he felt within this fluctuation. It was a feeling he didn’t come across many times in the past, but that still left a deep impression on him.

Demonic corruption.

This wasn’t just an ordinary Lesser Ring Realm cultivator waiting inside the manor. It was a demonic cultivator.

The merchant seemed to notice that Red had stopped following him, so he turned around to look at him in confusion. A few seconds later, though, his expression became anxious and frightened, as realization seemed to cross his face.

“P-Please, benefactor… We don’t mean you any harm. All my master wishes to do is speak with someone who walks the same path as him.”

There was both sincerity and terror spread across Emer’s face. His whole body shivered as he looked back at the house and observed a figure hidden behind its walls.

Red, however, wasn’t any less shocked. Pieces started to fall into place for him, too.

‘He knows about my demonic corruption.’

Less than an hour after setting foot into this city, the youth suddenly found himself in extreme jeopardy.